Nowadays, even young people often experience back pain, lower back pain, or periodic headaches. The causes of these symptoms are many, and often they are associated with various diseases of the spine, which begin to develop in childhood. But, unfortunately, the first signs of the disease appear much later. And during this period, significant changes can occur in the human skeleton, and the spine itself may also suffer. Therefore, it is very important, as soon as you feel pain in the spine, immediately consult a specialist, as timely treatment will help to quickly cope with the disease. The most common diseases are: osteochondrosis, scoliosis, herniated disc, disturbances of posture. We will consider some of the most common ailments in which there are pains in the spine, the causes and characteristics of their therapy.
Causes of the disease
Back pain can occur for various reasons, but the most common are back injuries, including those received at birth, sedentary or hard physical work, and heredity.
In order to prevent the development of back diseases, as well as pain in the spine, the causes of which are discussed below, you only need to follow simple recommendations that are familiar to everyone since childhood:
- Do not slouch and keep your posture, otherwise diseases such as scoliosis, osteochondrosis, hernia can develop.
- During sedentary work, one should not lean forward strongly, it is also recommended to get up and do a small warm-up every 30 minutes (it’s enough just to stretch several times).
- When lifting weights, it is necessary to distribute the load throughout the body, that is, you can not lift heavy objects, just bending forward, you need to sit down a bit. In this case, the back muscles will receive less load, and the spine itself will remain straight.
- Women are advised to limit the time they wear shoes with heels more than 5 cm high.
- Try to avoid spinal injuries, otherwise you can damage not only the spine, but it is also more likely to get more serious injuries, for example, the spinal cord will suffer, which will cause pain in the spine.
Diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the spine and back
In order to timely and correctly diagnose the disease, it is necessary to consult a specialist with the slightest back pain, who will conduct all the necessary examinations and, if necessary, prescribe treatment.
In the treatment of back diseases, which are often the cause of pain in the spine, a complex method is traditionally used, including:
- manual therapy;
- drug treatment;
- physiotherapy exercises and massage;
- physiotherapy.
For more serious illnesses, surgery may be required. One such case is a hernia in the spine. And in order not to bring your body to such drastic measures, you need to contact specialists in a timely manner and prevent diseases.
Often the cause of severe pain is osteochondrosis of the sacral spine, the symptoms and treatment of which will be described below.
Symptoms
Before describing the treatment of osteochondrosis, it is necessary to have a clear idea of the causes and symptoms of this disease.
Osteochondrosis usually affects people over 40 years old. But recently, the disease has become younger.
Osteochondrosis is a violation of the structure of joint tissues. Most often there is osteochondrosis of various departments, for example, osteochondrosis of the sacral spine. Symptoms and treatment will differ from a specific type.
As a rule, a person learns about osteochondrosis when he makes himself felt with severe back pain, headaches, numbness of the limbs, impaired mobility of the spine, intervertebral hernia. Until this moment, not a single year can pass. It is better, of course, when the disease is treated in the early stages of development. This saves time, effort and money, but this rarely happens.
Often this disease is confused with instability of the cervical spine. Symptoms and treatment of these two diseases are similar.
Osteochondrosis Treatment
Many people think and hope to recover on their own. But the treatment of osteochondrosis at home without a medical examination and diagnosis can lead to very serious consequences.
The fight against the disease involves several complementary components:
- drug treatment of osteochondrosis;
- non-pharmacological: physical exercises, therapeutic exercises, physiotherapy, acupuncture, etc.
Drug treatment is especially necessary during an exacerbation of the disease. First of all, in order to relieve pain symptoms, muscle cramps, improve blood circulation, eliminate inflammation in the affected area and shooting pain in the spine. For this, various drugs are used to treat osteochondrosis in the form of injections, tablets, ointments, gels and creams. Especially effective methods for osteochondrosis: rest, the gradual implementation of physical exercises for the development of muscle corset, diet, injections with drugs that restore tissue. Do not confuse osteochondrosis with symptoms of cervical instability. Treatment of any disease should begin only after visiting the clinic.
The hope that drugs will help get rid of the disease, as a rule, is not justified. But if you managed to overcome laziness and take on your health - start monitoring nutrition, doing special gymnastics - then success in treating this disease will be inevitable.
Osteophytes of the spine. Treatment
Osteochondrosis is often accompanied by such a phenomenon as osteophytes. Osteophytes are growths in the form of hooks or spikes. They usually form on bone tissue and on the vertebrae. They appear due to degenerative processes in the bone tissue, which occur for various reasons. In medicine, this disease is called spondylosis. Untimely treatment leads to a chronic form of radiculitis.
It is necessary to treat such a disease as soon as possible. But if the spine hurts, which doctor should I go to? An osteopathic doctor will help to cope with the disease. It unlocks the vertebrae with the help of soft manual techniques, restores blood circulation. Osteophytes disappear as soon as the regeneration of cartilage tissue begins.
Treatment of osteochondrosis of the lumbar
Osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine is a fairly common disease. This disease is equally affected by both men and women.
Osteochondrosis develops due to improper metabolism, when the cartilage begins to turn into bones and grow. Bone tissue compresses nerve fibers, causing pain.
Why is osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine so common? Science believes that one of the main causes of osteochondrosis is upright posture. However, it does not do without provoking factors. Hypodynamia, metabolic disorder, overweight, improper weight lifting - all this leads to disturbances in the natural processes of life in the spine.
Osteochondrosis develops for more than one year. It begins with an unpleasant sensation in the back and lower back, which, over time, intensifies and turns into severe pain. A dangerous complication of osteochondrosis is a hernia in the spine (intervertebral).
With advanced forms of the disease, pinched nerves are often observed and, as a result, numbness of the limbs, severe pain.
Treatment of osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine
The treatment of this disease is long and requires complex measures. If the diagnosis is “osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine”, the treatment is usually conservative, but if there is an advanced hernia, then most likely you can’t do without surgery.
Treatment involves the use of painkillers, antispasmodics, drugs that improve blood circulation, restore cartilage and bone tissue. But osteochondrosis alone cannot be defeated with medications alone.
The basis of treatment is: soft manual therapy, acupuncture, pharmacopuncture methods, physiotherapy. The course of medical gymnastics is also important. All these techniques are aimed at restoring normal blood circulation, eliminating muscle and vessel spasms in the affected area. The balance of metabolic processes in the intervertebral disc is restored and nutrition of bone, cartilage and ligaments is improved.
It should be noted that to restore the health of the spine, correctly selected physical exercises are simply vital. Only under such conditions can one hope for a full recovery.
The selection of exercises is a very responsible occupation, which can only be entrusted to an experienced specialist, since excessive loads can very much harm the body.
Hemangioma of the spine
This is the name of a benign tumor that appears due to impaired development of blood vessels. The secret of the appearance of hemangiomas has not yet been disclosed, however, this type of tumor is quite common.
Hemangiomas come in several varieties, they differ in structure and location.
Hemangioma of the spine is quite common. It can cause pain or be asymptomatic. Pathology is found in both men and women.
The most common hemangioma occurs in the thoracic and lumbar regions. In women, it appears much more often than in men. The hereditary nature of the disease is traced. In the spine, the hemangioma affects the vertebrae, growing in the body of the vertebra, it can eventually lead to its compression, i.e., fracture.
She may be:
- capillary (such are not operated on and are not even diagnosed, since they do not cause inconvenience.);
- simple (includes intertwined small vessels);
- racemic (larger vessels);
- cavernous (when there are cavity lacunae filled with blood).
But the presence of mixed hemangiomas, including various types of vessels and caverns, is also possible. Hemangioma of the vertebral body may not manifest itself in any way, but if the tumor grows and begins to compress the nerve endings, pains in the spine appear. A tumor not only destroys the intraosseous septum, but can also lead to a fracture of the spine.
Hemangioma of the spine: treatment
To identify and clarify the location of the tumor, radiography, computed, and magnetic resonance imaging are used.
Hemangiomas of the vertebrae are quite difficult to treat, since surgical removal is difficult due to the localization of the tumor, radiation therapy also has not proved itself to be the best, since the hemangioma does not collapse, and the percentage of relapses is quite high.
Such a method as embolization is not effective, because as a result of its application, a network of small capillaries grows.
Today, as the most effective and safe method of skin puncture vertebroplasty has established itself. The essence of the method: a special mixture of barium sulfate and titanium with bone cement under close control is injected into the vertebral body. In the body of the vertebra, the mixture hardens, generating heat. The allocated temperature is enough to destroy hemangioma cells.
The treatment of hemangiomas is carried out only under medical supervision, in special centers.
There are many different ailments due to which the spine can hurt, starting from a simple bruise and ending with a tumor or protrusion of the spine. How to treat? It all depends on the main cause of the pain.
Dorsopathy of the lumbosacral
Many people in our country turn to a neurologist complaining of constant back pain. But there are many who simply do not pay attention to this pain or who self-medicate on the advice of neighbors and friends. The result of such therapy, as a rule, is very sad and often irreparable.
If the spine hurts when walking, then this may be a symptom of dorsopathy. Dorsopathy of the lumbosacral spine is a very serious pathology, the result of which can be disability and complete or partial disability.
The concept of "dorsopathy" unites a whole group of diseases of the spinal system. Characteristic symptoms are pain in the limbs and back. Dorsopathies are classified as follows:
- deforming;
- sympathy;
- dorsalgia;
- dorsalgia with pain.
Dorsopathy in the lumbosacral spine can be diagnosed by the following symptoms:
- The presence of dull lower back pain (the so-called lumbalgia).
- Lumbago or in the lumbosacral region. Usually appears with sudden movements, as well as with sneezing and coughing.
- Pain along the sciatic nerve, especially pronounced when standing (symptom of piriformis muscle).
- Periodic cramps of the leg muscles. Lameness associated with pain.
The diagnosis is made due to examination by a neurologist or surgeon. If necessary, x-rays and MRI are prescribed.
On palpation, muscle tension and a possible displacement of the vertebra are noted.
If there is reason to suspect a pinch of the sciatic nerve, a novocaine test is performed. Novocaine is injected into the piriformis muscle, which anesthetizes this area.
Often there are two phases of the course of dorsopathy of the lumbosacral region:
- exacerbation phase;
- remission phase.
The task of the first phase is to relieve muscle spasm with painkillers, eliminate swelling, inflammation and restore normal blood circulation in the affected area. In this phase, peace is preferred.
In the phase of remission, a course of physiotherapy, therapeutic massage, a special course of therapeutic exercises for the lumbar spine are prescribed. It is recommended to observe moderate motor mode and avoid strong physical exertion.
With dorsopathy, it is very important to start treatment as soon as possible. Indeed, severe pain, in fact, already indicates serious violations in the lumbar region, and these disorders did not develop in one year. With an attack, it is very important to relieve pain and spasm as soon as possible.
If you do not pay attention to pain signals from the lumbar for a long time, you should not be surprised that as a result you will have to resort to surgical intervention. The recovery process may drag on for a year or more.
Other causes of pain
In addition to diseases, pain can occur due to various injuries. Please note that transportation of a victim with a spinal injury should be carried out with extreme caution. You do not need to try to turn the victim over yourself without the help of doctors. In this case, a compression fracture of the spine is considered to be serious damage, the ICD-10 code of which will depend on the particular department.
We have not considered all the reasons why soreness in the back can be felt. There are rare ailments, for example, tuberculous spondylitis of the spine - a chronic ailment accompanied by impaired vertebral function, severe pain in the back, the formation of serious neurological disorders, as well as deformation of the spinal column.
That is why it is so important not to ignore back pain, assuming that they arose, for example, due to a cold. If there is pain in the spine when walking or standing up, it is better to consult a doctor.